Rep. Rice asks NY to disbar Giuliani over Ukraine inquiry

A Long Island congresswoman is asking the New York committee that oversees lawyers to disbar Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, for what she calls potentially suppressing evidence and obstructing the ongoing impeachment inquiry.

U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City) wrote a letter Friday to the Attorney Grievance Committee housed within state Supreme Court, requesting a “disciplinary investigation and disbarment of Rudolph W. Giuliani.”

Rice said Giuliani, with his “dishonesty, deceit” and actions in Ukraine investigation and other matters, has violated not only state rules of professional conduct for attorneys but also his oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution.

Rice followed up on Monday on Twitter, saying: “Rudy Giuliani peddles conspiracy theories, defied a subpoena, and orchestrated a shakedown of a foreign government. All while acting as the President’s personal attorney. I’m sick of watching him use his law license to hurt our democracy and shield himself from accountability.”

A Giuliani spokeswoman didn’t immediately comment Monday.

The impeachment inquiry began after an anonymous intelligence community worker filed a complaint saying multiple officials had concerns that Trump was using his office for his own personal political gain and to damage a rival.

The whistleblower complaint centers on Trump’s efforts to get Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, and his son, Hunter. 

Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney and former New York City mayor, met multiple times with Ukrainian officials to press them to investigate the Bidens. The whistleblower said multiple officials were concerned Giuliani was circumventing U.S. diplomats and the “national security decision-making processes.”

Giuliani said this wasn’t a national security issue. Rice and Giuliani both are former prosecutors.